Oh Don’t Forget SMS Remind Service logo.

Trying to keep track of what I’m supposed to be doing and when is complicated. I’ve gotten much better at it over the years – but I still manage to miss a meeting here or there, forget to pay a bill, or so on. I use Asana, Google Keep, and Google Calendar, along with their integrations into my Galaxy S3 smartphone to keep me going.

But now the question is – how do I keep other people going? I’m in the position of assigning responsibilities to folks – if it is something with an impending deadline, how do I remind them that the deadline is impending without wasting my time? And how do I remind someone if something needs to be done on a certain day or at a certain time of day? These are more difficult questions.

Right now I use a combination of Boomerang and Ohdontforget – neither of which is a perfect tool and both of which I wish would have their functionality integrated into Asana.

So what is On Don’t Forget? Its an SMS reminder service that allows you to schedule an SMS message to be sent to a specified phone number at a specified time and can include the ability to repeat the message on a specified basis.

So, lets say Isaac needs to do something for me tomorrow night at 7 pm, but I know he might forget –  I can use ohdontforget to schedule a SMS reminder to go out to him at 7 pm. This won’t help if he is out of the area, but as long as he is in the area – it is a lifesaver.

The service does cost $5/mo., but I’ve bit the bullet and signed up and have been using it for a few weeks. The biggest feature it doesn’t have that I would like it to have is the ability for individuals to reply back to my initial message with a status update: e.g. CANT, COMPLETED, POSTPONED, etc. Then I should get notified by email or text regarding this update. This way I not only know someone has been reminded, but I can also relax knowing that the task has been done (or make alternative arrangements if it isn’t getting done).

Besides that, I’d also like to see them add the ability to search sent SMS messages, to delete SMS messages en masse (especially sent ones), and to create templated messages. But all of these are fairly minor compared to the ability to receive status updates regarding tasks (and also to auto-kick off a snooze/delete of the reminder once the task is completed).

Omega Paw Roll’n Clean Litter Box.

Still, I’m always keeping my eyes open for ways to reduce the amount of time, smells, and mess litter boxes create for me. On April 10th I purchased an Omega Paw Self-Cleaning Litter Box (Large). The price was right – $30 – and while it didn’t flush the litter down the septic like the CatGenie, it did simplify the process significantly.

When it arrived a few days later it took only a few minutes to assemble – but I didn’t listen to the “use clumping litter” instructions, since I didn’t have any around the house and instead used some regular litter – yeah, that didn’t work at all!

So, I purchased a 40 lb bag of Precious Cat Ultra Premium Clumping Cat Litter for $23 on April 24th and have been using it ever since. As of today (June 10th) I still have 10-15 lbs left. I was worried I was going to go broke buying litter – but whether it is the litter which is so long-lasting, the Omega Paw litter box which performs the magic, or some combination of the two – the litter seems to last FOREVER, so I’m not so worried about that any more.

Using the Omega Paw is easy-as-pie. I move it into a wide open space (and yes, you need a wide open space), roll it upside down, hit the bottom two or three times (to dislodge anything stuck to the bottom) and then roll it back. I pull out the scoop and dump the collected cat refuse into a plastic bag and take it outside and place it in a trash can (which, btw, seems to keep other creatures – e.g. raccoons and squirrels – from diving into your household trash).

I’m very happy with the product – and hoping to replace at least two more of the existing litter boxes with Omega Paw’s. Currently there are two I can’t replace, b/c they are in too tight of a space and it would be too great of a hassle to move them into a space large enough to roll them.

Another really nice element of this litter box is the hood. Some of my cats occasionally “miss” (especially our biggest cat, Barclay, whose butt occasionally hangs out of the litter box when she attempts to “do her business”) – and the hood has prevented this 100%!

Now that I’ve raved about the Omega Paw, let me highlight a few drawbacks:

1. The Omega Paw needs to be cleaned regularly. If you forget to clean the litter box for a day too many and too much refuse builds up, it will overflow the scoop and it becomes difficult to get the scoop out of the Omega Paw and can make a little mess in the process.
   
2. It is overly difficult to add litter to the Omega Paw. You either have to remove the top (which has a number of tabs so it doesn’t fall open when rolling) or you have to throw litter into the Omega Paw via the entrance way the cats use. This isn’t impossible or even that difficult, but it sure would be nice if there was a door in the hood which could be easily opened and would allow one to drop litter in from the top!
3. The plastic tabs are of poor quality. I haven’t had any break, but they just don’t show a high quality of workmanship, with extraneous plastic on some of them, rough fits, and so on. Once you get it put together you really don’t need to take the hood off often, but still, a little extra work on this front would make this product “premium.”
4. It requires a lot of space. You have to roll the Omega Paw upside down and back again, and this requires some significant space. I would suggest that Omega Paw make another model (more expensive) which could “roll in place” and could be used in tight spots. The Omega Paw is great if you have the room – but for those with space constraints (e.g. especially apartment dwellers), The Omega Paw may not be a viable option.

All that said, The Omega Paw Self-Cleaning Litter Box is the best litter box I have used thus far – it isn’t as nice as say a CatGenie is theoretically, but at least in my experience with the older CatGenie model, it didn’t work consistently and created lots of messes – The Omega Paw is a little more work, but it just works.

Related articles

• The difference between dogs and cats…
• Convenient Ways To Keep Your Cat Litter Tray Clean & Tidy
• CashNetUSA | Are You a Money-Savvy Pet Owner? – CashNetUSA

Novels in a Polish bookstore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you don’t already use Goodreads to manage your reading list – I’d highly recommend it. That said, I also have a few features/refinements I’d really like to see Goodreads add. Now that they have been acquired by Amazon, I don’t see any reason they shouldn’t be able to throw some extra manpower at these tasks and make them a reality.

What Do I Own?

Right now I have a category called “owned” but it isn’t entirely convenient. I’d really like a way apart from categories to mark a book as owned, wanted, loaned, or etc.

For example, there are some books I want to read but don’t care to own. I don’t want others purchasing these books for me – that would be sad.

On the other hand, there are books that I own that I don’t want folks purchasing for me either – b/c then I’d have duplicates – again, sad.

I’d also like Goodreads to provide a way for me to sell my books. If I own a book but don’t care to continue owning it (but won’t just throw/give it away), it’d be great to be able to mark a book as “available” and then when someone else goes searching for that book they could easily purchase it.

Finally, I love to loan out my books, but books are notorious for not returning to their owners and so I’d love to be able to mark it as loaned out to a specific person (which could be public/private based upon the desires of both parties) and perhaps receive reminders when the book had been lent out and not returned after x (customizable) period.

Help Me Curate!

I oftentimes find books I don’t want to read and right now I can create a category and they show up in that category – but what if I want them hidden from me on Goodreads in general? Say I’m paging through a list of science fiction or theology books. Every time I page through it I have to page through some popular books that I have no intention of reading. I’d like to hide them, so I can more easily find the “long-tail” of books – the books that aren’t as popular but that I want to read.

Amazon Associates

I’d also love to see Goodreads integrate with Amazon Associates so that I receive a commission off of any books I recommend that are sold. Not only would this be good for the end user, but it would be great for Goodreads/Amazon b/c user engagement would increase significantly and quality of user content would also increase as individuals saw the ability to earn money from their Goodreads data.

Related articles

• Interview: Otis Chandler of GoodReads Talks about Amazon
• How To Make Goodreads Work For You
• Replacing Goodreads
• All About Goodreads
• Amy Welborn on Goodreads
• Goodreads
• Update & Goodreads Nomination
• Amazon Acquires Goodreads (And People React)

I have a corded electric string trimmer (“weedwacker”) which works decently – but being corded is a bit of a nuisance, so

I’ve been looking around for a cordless string trimmer (battery operated), as I’d rather not have to mess around with gas and all that. Here is what I came up with…

I’m very tempted to give one a try, but I have some larger weeds (say a half inch in diameter – like berry bushes) and I’m not sure if an electronic one will hack it…

Holding off for now, but just in case this is useful to anyone else, here is what I came up with.

Disclaimer

• Star ratings are rough guestimates.

Ryobi ONE+ 18-Volt NiCd

String trimmer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

• Home Depot: $60.
• Model: P2040.
• Has an average rating of four stars at Home Depot with six reviewers.
• Single Line.
• Cut: 10″
• Weight: 6.5 lbs

Ryobi ONE+ 18-Volt Lithium-Ion

• Home Depot: $59.
• Model: P2030.
• Has an average rating of four stars at Home Depot with twenty-six reviewers.
• Cut: 10″

Black & Decker 36-Volt Straight Shaft

• Home Depot: $149.
• Amazon: $250.16.
• Model: LST136.
• Has an average rating of 4.75 stars at Home Depot  with 135 reviewers.
• Has an average rating of 4.75 stars at Amazon with 182 reviewers.
• Four stars from Popular Mechanics.
• Allows one to increase power for greater cutting power or decrease for longer battery life.
• RPM: 6500-8500.

Black & Decker 18-Volt Ni-Cd

• Amazon: $79.
• Model: NST2118.
• Has an average rating of four stars at Amazon with 336 reviewers.
• Received “Best Reviewed” from Consumer Search.
• Battery: 2x 18-Volt NiCd
• Weight: 6.5 lbs.
• RPM: 7000.

Black & Decker 20-Volt Lithium-Ion

• Amazon: $92.
• Model: LST220.
• Cut: 12″
• Has an average rating of four stars at Amazon with 315 reviewers.
• Weight: 5.2 lbs.

Earthwise 18-Volt

• Amazon: $60.
• Model: CST00012.
• Has an average rating of four stars at Amazon with 124 reviewers.
• Cut: 12″
• Battery: 18 Volt NiCad
• RPM: 7800.

Sunzi Cordless 10 Inch

• Amazon: $90.
• Model: WT02222.
• Has an average rating of 4.4 stars at Amazon with seven reviews.
• Battery: Lithium Ion.
• Weight: 4.4 lbs.

Black & Decker 18V NiCd (Reconditioned)

• Home Depot: $79.
• Amazon: $55.
• Model: NST2118R.
• Has an average rating of 4.5 stars at Amazon with seven reviews.
• Has an average rating of 4 stars at Home Depot with 166 reviews.
• Batteries: 2x 18V Ni-Cd.
• Cut: 12″
• Weight: 6.4 lbs

Weed Eater 12-Volt

• Amazon: $70.
• Model: 952711896.
• Has an average rating of 4.5 stars at Amazon with five reviews.
• Cut: 10″
• Single Feed.

Bibliography

• Roy Berendsohn. “Electric String Trimmers: We Test 7 of the Best.” Popular Mechanics.
• “2013 Best Electric String Trimmer Comparisons and Reviews.” TopTenReviews.
• “String Trimmers: Reviews.” ConsumerSearch, June 2012.
• Sal Vaglica. “Cordless String Trimmers.” ThisOldHouse.
• Greg Anderton. “Reviews of Cordless Weed Eaters.” Answers.com.
• Joe Delulio. “Cordless String Timmer Buyer’s Guide.” String Trimmers Direct.
• “Learn About the Black and Decker NST2118 GrassHog.” Weed Eater Reviews 2013.

Safari Books Online is an online, subscription library with 24,000+ books and videos on a variety of subjects – 840+ of those are on leadership.

For $10/mo. (not shown in advertising on their site) you can sign up for a 5-slot bookshelf. This means you can read any five books out of that 24k+ library in its entirety anytime you want. After you are done reading a book, return it and a slot frees up and choose another book to utilize that free slot.

But what sort of books am I talking about? Old books? Crappy books? Books by authors and publishers you’ve never heard about? Nope. I’m taking about the good stuff, lots of it, by well-known authors and publishers.

Sorting the results for leadership books these are the top ten most popular currently:

1. Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal’s Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2008).
2. Scott Cromar’s From Techie to Boss: Transitioning to Leadership (Apress, 2013).
3. Daniel Goleman’s Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence (More Than Sound, 2011).
4. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner’s The Leadership Challenge 4th Ed. (Jossey-Bass, 2007).
5. Nicole Lipkin’s What Keeps Leaders Up At Night (AMACOM, 2013).
6. Jamshid Gharajedaghi’s Systems Thinking 3rd Ed. (Morgan Kaufmann, 2011).
7. Maria Gonzalez’s Mindful Leadership: The 9 Ways to Self-Awareness, Transforming Yourself, and Inspiring Others (Jossey-Bass, 2012).
8. William F. Baker and Michael O’Malley’s Leading with Kindness: How Good People Consistently Get Superior Results (AMACOM, 2008).
9. Niamh O’Keeffe’s Your First 100 Days (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2011).
10. Michael Armstrong’s Handbook of Management and Leadership 3rd Ed. (Kogan Page, 2012).

I browsed through the books quickly and stumbled upon Patrick Lencioni’s books. I loved his Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators (Jossey-Bass, 2005) and I see that The Four Obsessions of An Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable (Jossey-Bass, 2000) and The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable (Jossey-Bass, 2008) are available as well.

I also noticed Andrew J. DuBrin’s The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Leadership, 2nd Ed. (Alpha Books, 2000). No, I’m not calling you an idiot – but I personally find the idiot’s and dummies’ guides to be really helpful – especially as first-look primers for jumping into a subject.

One will also notice some well-known names such as John Wooden (On Leadership, McGraw-Hill, 2005), Ken Blanchard (Leading at a Higher Level, FT Press, 2006), Warren Bennis (On Becoming a Leader, Basic Books, 2009), and Peter Druck (as seen in William A. Cohen’s Drucker on Leadership, Jossey-Bass, 2009).

If we constrained ourselves only to the leadership category we’d have plenty of reading material for quite some time, but there are also several other relevant categories for leaders such as Personal and Professional Development (2922 books).

Yes, one could buy these books…But one book will set you back the cost of a month’s subscription – and for that same month’s subscription you can read five of these leadership books. Pretty slick, eh?

• Sean Ludwig. “Digitual Currency Biz Liberty Reserve Shut Down, Founder Arrested.” VentureBeat.
  • My question: What is the fundamental difference between Liberty Reserve and Bitcoin that will allow Bitcoin to remain open while Liberty Reserve and similar digital currencies are shuttered?
• Drew Olanoff. “Any.DO Integrates Kiip’s Reward System To Make Completing To-Do Lists A Daily, And Fun, Habit.” TechCrunch.
• Matt Marshall. “Electric Car Company Better Place Shuts Down After Burning Through $850M.” VentureBeat.
• Chris Rancourt. “Streaming Video Killed The Cable Star.” pandodaily.
• Emily Price. “How The Facebook Developer Platform Has Changed How We Use the Web.” Mashable.
• Shep McAllistser. “Toothbrush Subscriptions Sends You Fresh Toothbrushes On A Schedule.” Lifehacker.
  • This isn’t a bad idea, though I’ll compare what similar products via Amazon cost using Subscribe & Save.
• Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai. “Feds Used a Child Porn Website to Catch Pedophiles.” Mashable.
• Ricardo Bilton. “Gmail’s New Inbox Sorting Proves That E-Mail Is Still Very Much Broken.” VentureBeat.
  • Alan Buckingham. “Google Brings Tabs To Gmail For Web, iOS, And Android.” BetaNews.
• Eric Ravenscraft. “How Can I Get Started With Home Automation?” Lifehacker.
• Casey Johnston. “Aereo: The TV Innovation That May Be Too Good To Last.” Ars Technica.
• Signa Brewster. “Will the Supreme Court Kill The Gene-Patent Business?” GigaOm.
  • IMHO, patenting genes is a little like patenting animals. “Ha! I saw the wolf first, now you can’t tell anyone it is a wolf, b/c I patented the wolf.” No, that is crazy talk. Here’s hoping the supreme court kills the gene patents.
• Casey Johnston. “Vietnamese Blogger Arrest, Blog Becomes Booby-Trapped With Malware.” Ars Technica.
• Joe Mullin. “HP Launches The Second Attack Against Notorious ‘Scan To E-Mail’ Patents.” Ars Technica.
• Sean Ludwig. “Mary Meeker’s Latest Mind-Boggling ‘Internet Trends’ Report Hits The Web (Slides).” VentureBeat.
• Nathaniel Mott. “Helpshift Promises To Help Developers Avoid One-Star Reviews.” pandodaily.
• Sarah Perez. “Microsoft Announces Skype and Lync Interoperability With IM & Audio To Start, Video Soon.” TechCrunch.
• Wayne Williams. “Amazon Launches Its Own Login Service For Apps, Games, And Websites.” BetaNews.
  • Alex Williams. “Amazon Web Services Launches Web identity Service With Support For Google And Facebook.” TechCrunch.
• Andrew Nusca. “Broadcom Unveils New ‘Internet Of Things’ Chips.” ZDNet.
• John Biggs. “JamStar Is A Cool Free App That Teaches You To Play The Guitar.” TechCrunch.
• Frederick Lardinois. “Alternative Search Engine Blekko Launches Major Redesign In Effort To Go Beyond The Usual 10 Blue Links.” TechCrunch.
• Dean Takahashi. “Floome Smartphone Breathalyzer Billed As The Most Accurate For Measuring Blood Alcohol Level.” VentureBeat.
• Lauren Wagner. “Don’t Hate The Player, Hate The Game? $20B In Federal Payouts May Upend The Electronic Health Record Market.” VentureBeat.
• Rachel King. “Survey Says: Americans Spend 58 Minutes A Day On Their Smartphones.” ZDNet.
• Meghan Kelly. “Stratfor Hacker Pleads Guilty, Twin Brother Petitions Judge For Reduced Sentence.” VentureBeat.
• Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchiaerai. “Chinese Hackers Access Advanced U.S. Weapons Systems.” Mashable.
  • John Koetsier. “China Blamed For Hacking Australia’s Spy, Foreign Affairs, Defense, And Government Agencies.” VentureBeat.
• Nathaniel Mott. “Can Connected Devices Change The World?” pandodaily.
• Darrell Etherington. “Google Adds In-App Purchases To Chrome Build, Pretty Soon The Web Could Be Mostly Freemium, Too.” TechCrunch.
• Melanie Pinola. “RedHoop Finds Classes From All The Major Online Course Providers.” Lifehacker.
• Kevin C. Tofel. “TestFairy Leverages The Cloud To End An Android App Headache: Beta Testing.” GigaOm.
• Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. “Windows 8 Users Ignoring ‘Modern/Metro’ Apps: Soluto.” ZDNet.
• Neil Versel. “Prototype iPhone Biosensor Detects Viruses, Bacteria, Toxins, Allergens.” mobihealthnews.
• Alex Williams. “Wise.io Debuts Machine Learning Service That Offers To The Public What Google Builds For Itself.” TechCrunch.
• Meghan Kelly. “Google Will Give Companies 7 Days To Fix Critical Bugs Before Calling Them Out.” VentureBeat.
• Rebecca Grant. “Captricity Raises $4.5M To Turn Handwritten Documents Into Structured Data.” VentureBeat.
• Cyrus Farivar. “Everything From iPhones To VPNs Can Now Be Legally Exported To Iran.” Ars Technica.
• Greg Kumparak. “Drupal.org Hacked, User Details Exposed And Reset.” TechCrunch.
• Sean Ludwig. “Salesforce Debuts ‘Company Communities’ To Help You Kill Off Your Corporate Intranet.” VentureBeat.
• Pete Pachal. “Microsoft Brings Back The Start Button In Windows 8.1.” Mashable.
  • Note “start button” not “start menu.”
  • Barb Darrow. “Microsoft Caves On Windows Start Button. Kinda.” GigaOm.
  • Pete Pachal. “Windows 8.1: Everything You Need To Know.” Mashable.
• Emily Price. “Facebook Launches Verified Accounts.” Mashable.
• Frederic Lardinois. “Google Apps Admins Finally Get An Android App To Manage Their Users, Services And Devices On The Go.” TechCrunch.
• Meghan Kelly. “Ruby On Rails Exploit Turns Your Servers Into Botnets.” VentureBeat.
• Charlie Osborne. “Panasonic To Axe 5000 Staff.” ZDNet.

Now, I don’t represent either of these organizations, but I figured perhaps if I post my thoughts here someone from those organizations would chance upon them and pursue the idea further…or perhaps someone will point out why this idea would never work…

In any case, this is what I’m thinking:

1. When someone gives blood via the Red Cross they would have the option to allow their blood to be processed by WellnessFX (e.g. the annual checkup level). This would be ‘free’ and would provide folks with an additional reason to donate blood while also vastly expanding WellnessFX‘s name recognition and customer base.^[1]
2. I know that the Red Cross performs communicable disease checks on the blood, but I’m guessing they may also perform many of the standard tests WellnessFX offers also – this means that with a signed disclaimer this info. could be shared and uploaded into WellnessFX for the donor to view without WellnessFX having to perform all of the tests themselves (thus reducing cost).
3. From the reverse perspective, when having blood drawn at a lab one could have an option to have a donation taken that would be given to the Red Cross. This would increase the number of donors for the Red Cross and reduce lines at blood drives – as folks could give whenever they wanted rather than everyone trying to cram in on a single day.
4. This could additionally reduce expenses for the Red Cross, as eventually there might not even be a need for blood drives, or at least a greatly reduced need, if folks began using labs to draw the blood (and meanwhile, the labs could get a tax write-off for a few extra minutes work).
5. Finally, this could be a significant step towards improving the general population’s health in the United States. A significant portion of the US population doesn’t get annual physical checkups and I imagine a significant portion of these individuals do give blood. In this manner they could get information about their health at no-cost up to several times per year (e.g. each time they donated blood). This would allow for earlier detection of numerous health conditions (e.g. low iron, high cholesterol, etc.) and potentially save lives and reduce emergency financial costs.

What do you think? Could this work? Why or why not?

1. ^[1] Some percentage of those who would take a free checkup would go on to become premium paying customers. ↩

In June of 2011, nearly two years ago, I wrote an article summarizing the state of IP (web-based) enabled thermostats. I revised this article in April of 2012, over a year ago. Now, it seems appropriate, to create a new post reflecting the state of IP enabled thermostats in 2013.

This article will include all information still relevant from the older article along with new information regarding developments from 2012 until now.

I welcome comments regarding this post including:

• Any IP based thermostats I may have missed.
• Your experiences with various IP based thermostats.

Without further ado…

The Selection

ecobee

• Offers 24% cost savings on heating and 21% on cooling as compared to leaving thermostat fixed on 72 degrees.^[1]
• I was unable to find an RSS feed using Feedly to keep up with ecobee’s blog…That is a big no no!
• Offers solutions for home and business.
• Website is very nice, apps, etc. appear well-finished – but no noticeable distinguishable features at consumer level, though business units offer administrative flexibility beyond that found in home units.
• Prices appear to start around $200 and go up.
• Conclusion: Might be worth considering for larger building where administration controls are needed, otherwise, seems neck-and-neck with competition.

Images of ecobee’s thermostat and remote management.

Radio Thermostat

• Two different models are available direct from Radio Thermostat – the CT80 ($250) and the CT30 ($140).
• Requires either a “C” or “Common” wire or an external power adapter.
• 3M used to rebrand/resell these under the Filtrete brand via Home Depot, but appears to have stopped doing so.
• They also lack an RSS feed (or even a real blog), the website design is outmoded, and the devices are not as slick as competitor options. That said, they do have online and public forums.

Radio Thermostat’s WiFi thermostat.

Proliphix

• Has a blog with RSS feed.
• One of the oldest IP thermostat manufacturers.
• Pricing is not available on the website.
• Used to have residential solutions, but there is no mention of them on the site anymore.

Bay Controls

• Site is pretty horrific.
• No blog.
• Installs in 30 minutes.
• No recurring costs.
• Has an iPhone client.
• Looks to have significant customizability but at cost of user friendliness, a geek’s friend, but perhaps not for the average consumer.
• Pricing starts at $220.

Bay Controls’ Scary Geeky Thermostat

Network Thermostat (Net/X)

• Receives disappointing site award alongside Bay Controls.
• Offers web-based and PC based management software which looks nice and feature-filled.
• The web management console is a server built into the device, no cloud services.
• Pricing starts around $450.
• Offers special pricing for non-profits.

Intwine Energy

• Company website was slow, consumer facing site appears to be down.
• Most recent press release is from 2011.
• Wouldn’t recommend due to lack of activity on site, though devices look fine.

Nexia Home (Formerly Schlage LiNK)

• Appears to be rebranded via American Standard and Trane.
• Offers the advantage of also supporting cameras, lighting, locks, and sensors.
• Monthly fee of $9.
• Utilizes Z-Wave technology, not WiFi per say.
• Pricing starts at $150 for just the thermostat, but you’ll also need a bridge. A bundle is available for around $230.
• No blog.

Nexia’s Thermostat, Bridge, and Power Bundle

Nest Thermostat

• Created by former Apple folks, has gotten a lot of the recent press and consumer love.
• Website and device appear beautiful.
• Has partnered with energy utilities to offer the device for free if you sign up for select providers (only available in some states).
• Has a blog, including RSS feed.
• Devices are available from Amazon as well as Lowes and Home Depot.
• Price is $250.
• This system does not require a C wire.

The beautiful Nest thermostat.

Enphase Energy

• Seems like Enphase is moving away from focusing on intelligent thermostats and focusing more on solar panels?
• Uses the ZigBee protocol and thus requires a bridge device.
• Website is slick and has a blog with RSS.
• Only sells via distributors, no pricing easily available.

Venstar

• Offers both residential and commercial solutions.
• Offers the Surveyor product which allows for HVAC, lighting/electrical, and mechnical systems monitoring.
• Claims (for Surveyor) “Go Green for No Green” (no cash up front, no capital expense, cash flow positive from day one). Didn’t see details on this program.

Energate

• Has a blog, but no RSS.
• Appears to work only through utilities.

EcoFactor

• No blog.
• Appears to work through utilities.

Trane

• Offers the ComfortLink and ComfortLink II – both of which are web enabled.
• The Nexia branded home thermostat starts at $150.
• Thermostats are full color (except Nexia).

LockState Connect

• Pricing starts at $170 for IP thermostat.
• Ongoing monthly costs of $.99 for basic services for first device or $1.98 for premium (this includes email/sms alerts). Additional devices are $.99/mo.
• Uses WiFi, not ZigBee or Z-Wave.
• Also supports cameras, locks, and power strips.
• No blog.
• Requires a “C” wire, but also supports a 24VAC transformer.

Nexia’s Thermostat, Bridge, and Power Bundle

Honeywell

• Full color available from $250 from Home Depot, monochrome from $120 for button-based and $150 for touchscreen. Appears slightly better pricing is available via Amazon.
• All of these units require a “C” wire. If you have an older home/business you may not have this wire run to your thermostat. There are instructions on how to check on the website. It is quite unfortunate, there WiFi-less models have batteries that allow them to operate without the “C” wire, but these apparently don’t.

Full Color Honeywell WiFi Thermostat

The Monochrome Honeywell Touchscreen WiFi Thermostat

The Button-Based Monochrome Honeywell WiFi Thermostat.

Hunter

• Used to offer the Hunter Universal WiFi Internet Thermostat for $100, but it has been discontinued.

Lennox

• Offers the icomfort Wi-Fi Touchscreen Thermostat.

Insteon

• Requires a hub ($130~).
• Pricing starts at $150 for thermostat.
• Also supports lights, dimmers, switches, cameras, security, sprinkler and so on.
• No blog.

Residential Control Systems (RCS) Technology

• Has Z-Wave, ZigBee, and native WiFI thermostats.
• Products are monochrome
• No blog.

Evolve Guest Controls

• Thermostats start at $150.
• Monochrome.
• Has a blog with RSS.

2GIG Technologies

• Uses Z-Wave.
• Pricing around $150.
• No blog.

Vaporware?

• Fidure Corp. – Site not updated since 2007.

Conclusions

I’d be hesitant to utilize anything that runs over Z-Wave, ZigBee, or Insteon. I think WiFi is the wave of the future – but that might just be me. What do you think?

The Nest, LockState Connect, and Honeywell options look the most attractive to me. I just signed up with a new energy utility and they are sending me a free Nest…so that is what I’ll be using at home.

1. ^[1] Not that anyone with a programmable thermostat does that anymore. ↩